The Encyclopedia of the North American Hockey League (NAHL) that existed from 1973-74 to 1976-77. The NAHL was spawned by the death of the Eastern Hockey League and is the inspiration for the 1977 classic cult movie 'Slapshot'.

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Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Garry Peters: Head Coach 1974-75 Syracuse Blazers

Garry Peters had the scoring touch in
junior with the Regina Pats and had some minor league glory, as well,
in the CPHL and AHL. When it came to his respectable 311 games in the
National Hockey League, he was anything but an offensive threat.

Peters found his way into NAHL history,
taking the head coaching job for the Syracuse
Blazers in 1974-75, the year after his final year of pro hockey
as a player. It would be his only year as a head coach in pro hockey.

Garry Peters – NAHL

As mentioned, Garry was head coach of
the Syracuse Blazers in 1974-75. Peters came into the season with no
coaching experience, having retired after playing the previous season
in the WHA. The Blazers were first overall in the eight team league
during the regular season, finishing 12 points ahead of the second
place Philadelphia Firebirds.

Bob
Jones led Syracuse offensively, his 76 assists and 114 points
leading the entire NAHL. Gary Sittler from the Blazers led the
league with 262 penalty minutes. In the Lockhart Cup playoffs,
Syracuse had a bye through the first round and came up against the
Johnstown Jets in the semi-finals. The series was tight with the Jets
coming out on top 4-3. Each team scored 26 goals over the seven games
and the Blazers at one time held a 3-2 series lead.

Garry Peters – Junior / Minor Pro

Peters spent four years with the Regina
Pats of the SJHL from 1959-60 to 1962-63. He was team captain for his
final two campaigns. Over his junior career, Garry scored 127 and
assisted on 160 for 287 points over 200 regular season games.

In his second year, 1960-61, the Pats
swept the Estevan Bruins in four games to capture the SJHL
championship. Regina then fell to the Edmonton Oil Kings in the
Abbott Cup semi-finals.

The following year, Peters led the SJHL
with 69 assists and 114 points over 56 games. He was selected as the
First Team All-Star Centre. The Pats reached the finals again but
this time fell to the Moose Jaw Canucks in seven games.

His final year in Regina saw him
selected as a First Team All-Star again. The Pats lost to the Estevan
Bruins in the semi-finals. Peters then joined the Bruins for the
Abbott Cup playoffs but Estevan fell in six to the Edmonton Oil Kings
in the semi-finals. That year, he saw his first pro action, appearing
in four regular season and one playoff game in the EPHL with the
Hull-Ottawa Canadiens.

Peters joined the Omaha Knights in
1963-64 for his first full year of pro hockey. He was named CPHL
Rookie Of The Year, scoring 32 and assisting on 49 for 81 points over
72 games. Garry tied for fifth in goal scoring, tied for sixth in
assists and placed fifth for points in the league. Alain
Caron of the St. Louis Braves ripped apart the CPHL with 77 goals
that year.

Teamed with future NHLers Barclay
Plager, Claude Larose, Noel Picard and Ernie Wakely, Peters and the
Knights finished first overall and won the playoff championship over
the St. Paul Rangers. St. Paul managed one win but were outscored by
Omaha 28-8 on the series.

In 1966-67, Garry returned to the CPHL
with the Houston Apollos, a farm team of the Montreal
Canadiens. In 50 games, he contributed 52 points. The team was
heavy in future NHLers and even a few future members of the Hockey
Hall of Fame. Regular teammates included Andre
Boudrias, Danny Grant, Jacques Lemaire, Serge Savard and Rogie
Vachon. Pat Quinn, Carol Vadnais and Mickey Redmond played sparingly
with the team.

His one last go in the minors was
1971-72 with the Boston Braves of the American Hockey League. Over 58
games, Peters scored 39 and assisted on 34 for 73 points. He was
named a First Team All-Star and was honoured with the Les Cunningham
Award as MVP. Garry's 39 goals placed him fourth in the AHL. On that
farm team of the Boston Bruins were up and comers Terry
O'Reilly and Dan Bouchard.

Garry Peters – Major League

Peters played 311 regular season games
in the National Hockey League between 1964-65 and 1971-72 with the
Montreal Canadiens, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers and Boston
Bruins. He played sparingly with the Habs and was traded in June,
1965, along with Cesare
Maniago, to the New York Rangers for Gord Labossiere, Noel Price,
Earl Ingarfield and Dave McComb. He would end up back in Montreal a
year later.

At the 1967 NHL Expansion Draft, the
Philadelphia Flyers took Garry in the tenth round, 57th
overall. It was with the Flyers that he saw the bulk of his NHL
action. In 1972, Peters again took part in an NHL Expansion Draft,
this time going eleventh overall to the New York Islanders. He would
never play for New York.

Garry's time with the Boston Bruins was
limited. He played just two regular season games for the club in
1971-72. He also dressed for one playoff game for the Bruins. Boston
won the Stanley Cup championship that season, beating out the New
York Rangers in the finals.

In the World Hockey Association, Peters
appeared in 57 regular season games over the 1972-73 and 1973-74
seasons. In the first year, he played 23 games for the New York
Raiders. The following year, he appeared in 34 games for the New York
Golden Blades.